Custom Search

Ever since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its landmark 1999 report, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” there has been a global focus on improving patient safety. Despite the efforts of an entire industry, however, progress has been slow – indeed, the situation may be getting worse.

While the IOM report estimated that as many as 98,000 U.S. patients die annually from medical errors, a 2016 study published in the BMJ shows that medical errors may now be the third-leading cause of death in the United States – claiming 251,000 lives every year.1 If the study’s findings are correct, then only heart disease and cancer kill more people each year than medical errors.